Trail Rider Magazine

Flashback! Let's Get it On! March 2022 5 With spring on the horizon, we're excited about the upcoming 2022 riding and racing season. The winter months have been produc ve, with a fleet of bikes all prepped and ready to thrash. As for modern mounts, we've busted open the piggy bank and added a couple new KTMs to the fleet. The latest is a 2022 KTM 350 XC-F Factory Edi on, and for my two stroke fix, a '22 300 XC-W Erzberg Rodeo. Being a diehard two stroke rider, the new XC-F should be a fun learning curve. Plans for the 4T will be select Hare Scrambles and faster-paced events. Fi ed with WP's AER air fork, this will be another new and exci ng component to wrap our heads around and learn proper set-up for our northeast terrain. In recent years, we've grown to appreciate the linkage bikes, with their lower seat heights and finding the proper suspension se ngs for our New England terrain will be fun. As for the en- gine and being a four stroke, I'm sure we'll be tes ng and tuning in search of the perfect set-up for our intended purpose. As of press me, we've only thrown a leg over the 350 XC-F to set the sag. With its intended purpose of fast-paced racing, we're told gearing changes and a flywheel weight might be a good idea for woods work. I greatly enjoy prepping a new bike, and readers can look forward to a feature of what we feel is important in se ng up a new fresh out-of-the-crate bike. As for vintage, we're excited about AHRMA Northeast's new Pre 2K class. This new class allows 1999-and-under bikes to compete in the popular vintage cross country and motocross series. Yes, there are a few naysayers for adding what is arguably a modern design to vintage racing, but we're all over it. The Pre 2K class should draw in younger racers and give masochists a third class to race. Let's face it, there's a lot of windshield me travelling to events, and with the price of fuel these days, some might ques on driving 5-10 hours each way just to race for a couple hours. Given this, our vintage feature for March is a 1996 KTM 550 MXC, a perfect tool for tossing rocks in the Pre 2K class! Other huge news is we've got a new contributor here at Trail Rider. 2021 ISDE Women's Trophy Team member Rachel Gu sh and has offered to cover select events throughout the 2022 sea- son. Rachel will be compe ng in the 2022 GNCC series on her factory backed GasGas / Spyke's KTM / Bonanza Plumbing rocket in WXC Pro class along with NEPG Na onal Enduros. Yes, she's a phenom on a bike and she sure has a knack for the wri en word. We think you'll greatly enjoy her story. -Kurt

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